Chapter 215
As Tyler launched Starry Romance, melodious music began to play.
The beautiful tune, enhanced by high–quality sound, was a real treat.
Tyler appreciated it for a moment before commenting. “This music is great, feels like it’s composed by a master.”
He then turned his attention to the game’s start screen. ‘Starry Romance‘ was a single–player game, but its production was impressively detailed.
The character customization feature, especially the facial creation part, offered thousands of options for different facial features. Theoretically, one could recreate any real–life person’s face.
In addition to this, players could draw their own face or use a real photo, making the options incredibly diverse.
Tyler initially wanted to select a random face, but the audience, seeing the option to use a real photo, encouraged
him to use his own.
A generous viewer even offered fifty thousand dollars for it.
So, what choice did he have but to bow to the demands of money?
Following the audience’s request, Tyler named the female protagonist Tyler and uploaded his photo. Soon, his face appeared on the female protagonist’s body, creating a somewhat jarring image.
The audience, however, found it hilarious and donated more dollars.
Playing as this eyesore protagonist, Tyler proceeded into the game.
The game started with an opening animation, which is usually a fixed sequence.
The first character to appear was a female military officer.
Tyler, with a bag of chips in hand, settled in to enjoy the story.
The officer glanced at him and suddenly displayed an indescribable expression.
‘Sorry, my mission requires a beauty. With your… kind of looks… goodbye.”
The screen went black with a pop.
A message appeared, [Congratulations on achieving the ‘Seen and Rejected‘ accomplishment.]
Patter.
The chips in Tyler’s hand dropped onto the table.
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What in the world was this?
What was wrong with his face?
Why wouldn’t they even let him watch the opening animation?
Tyler was utterly baffled.
The audience was nearly dying of laughter.
Taking a deep breath, Tyler said, “I’ll try again.”
This time, he randomly chose a combination of facial features and ended up with a pretty character.
He re–entered the game, meeting the same female military officer again.
She sized up the new character with a slightly furrowed brow, showing a bit of disdain but finally relenting. “Average looks, but maybe the person is tired of delicacies and wants to try something simple? Fine, you’ll do.”
Tyler heaved a sigh of relief.
He had finally entered the main storyline.
The female military officer informed him that she was a spy, and her mission was to seduce the Empire’s Marshal.
To aid her in this task, the officer arranged for her to assume the identity of an impoverished young girl.
During an inspection tour of his territory, the Marshal happened upon a scene where a group of ruffians were harassing the young girl.
The Marshal was passing by!
Normally, at this point in such games, there would be various options to choose from.
However, this game offered no options.
Instead, it prompted Tyler to speak up. He could use his natural voice or select from a variety of voice changers. provided by the system, including sounds like ‘cute girl‘ and ‘mature lady‘.
Tyler chose the ‘cute girl‘ voice.
Then, in a squeaky, delicate tone, he said, ‘Marshal, save me, please.”
“Wow, the anchor is a monster.”
“I’m getting goosebumps.”
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Tyler turned off the game voice and chuckled, “You don’t understand, this is me sacrificing for art.“”
Just then, in the game, the Marshal glanced indifferently at the female protagonist and said, “Take her away and
execute her.”
The next second, the screen went black again.
Tyler was speechless.
The chat erupted in laughter.
Tyler was starting to feel a headache coming on.
How on earth was he supposed to play this game?
“I refuse to give up,” he declared, starting a new game.
No matter what tone or words he tried, the result was always the same: execution by the Marshal.
How was he supposed to play this?
On the brink of frustration, Tyler noticed his online viewership was nearing ten million.
Among these viewers was Susan, who couldn’t help but burst into laughter watching Tyler’s desperate attempts to find a way to survive in the game.
Fed up with the variety of ways he met his end, Tyler resolutely turned to his computer to search for some game
strategies.
The comments section of the game was overflowing, but not a single strategy could be found.
It seemed like everyone was playing a different version of the game.
For example, because Tyler hadn’t spent much time on character creation, he always started as a poor girl.
Those who created attractive characters began the game as lovers.
Even those with particularly unattractive faces had opportunities.
One player, on the verge of getting the black screen from the female officer, used his eloquence to persuade her, leading to a servant starting scenario.
Aside from these three common starting points, some players managed to make their own unique beginnings.
If you made logical suggestions to the female officer, she would sometimes adopt them.
One player convinced the officer to place him in the army camp, leading to a military route in the game.
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Some players chose to pursue a storyline of love and conflict with an adversary.
Others opted for routes that involved getting closer to the Marshal’s family.
In short, Just the beginning of the game alone had been turned into a myriad of possibilities by the players.
Tyler was astonished as he read through these strategies.
One thought kept recurring in his mind, “Is this even possible?”
But the game offered even more than that.
Apart from the wildly varied beginnings, the game allowed a high degree of freedom in its later stages.
Some players, by choosing the right paths, quickly found their way to the Marshal’s side.
Others, who took wrong turns, spent hours without even seeing the Marshal.
Moreover, the game featured no set options.
All dialogue was created by the players themselves, and all actions were under their direct control.
This led to the NPCs reacting in diverse and unpredictable ways.
[The first time I played this game, I was laughing and joking around. But the more I played, the more terrified I became. Are the NPCs in this game really just NPCs? I keep feeling like they’re actual, living beings.]
[Is this the latest in artificial intelligence technology? It’s kind of scary. Do these NPCs possess human–like Intelligence? I hope the scenarios of machines revolting in movies won’t become a reality.]
[It seems like Storm Group has opened Pandora’s box!]
Regardless, the internet was abuzz with discussions about this game, which had quickly become a sensation.
Some people were immersed in this novel gameplay.
Others genuinely fell in love with the NPCs in the game.
Meanwhile, a few were spreading panic, hoping the government would ban this technology.
But regardless, Starry Romance, along with Future One, became incredibly popular, igniting widespread interest.
In front of the screen, Leo’s eyes were red, and his face was dark as coal.
He glanced at Isabella and demanded, “Where is that backup plan you mentioned?”
His demeanor frightened Isabella, but she quickly responded, “Leo, don’t worry. The more popular this game gets,
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the harder it will fall.”
“I want to see results immediately,” Leo insisted.
“I’ll arrange it right away, Isabella agreed.
A few hours later, while everyone was still raving about Starry Romance, a trending topic quietly surfaced on social
media.
“Starry Romance Plagiarism”
Despite her outward confidence, Isabella was somewhat uneasy. She feared Ben might suppress the trending
topic.
At Storm Group, someone brought the news to Ben, suggesting, “Mr. Landor, should we contact Twitter to suppress
this trend?”
After a glance, Ben smiled and said, “No need to suppress it. Help it reach the top.”
Huh?
The employee was puzzled by this response but quickly followed Ben’s instructions.
Soon after, the topic “Starry Romance Plagiarism” climbed to the top of Twitter Trends.
